When I was growing up, my dad had a large backyard garden. As an engineer, he was meticulous in the planning phase each year, mapping out what he would plant and where, to maximize the yield. I remember that he would spend hours in his garden, tending to his plants, with a transistor radio hanging from a pear tree, broadcasting talk shows and baseball games. His love for and care of his plot of land was artful. 

My mom’s creative space was in the kitchen. I have vivid memories of her making the crust for her apple pie. I can see her, in my mind’s eye, measuring out the Crisco, dropping it into a measuring cup of water, to get just the right amount. She’d slice the apples, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and then roll out the dough, carefully placing it in the pie plate, crimping the edges and brushing the top with milk for browning. Culinary art…

I hold those memories as pieces of art, maybe not art in a conventional sense but, rather, from a broader creative and self expressive vantage point. Externalizing thoughts and feelings and channeling them through a particular medium to produce enjoyment for self and others…

For me, I gravitate towards words and images.  While there’s no particular order that I follow, ultimately, written language intersects with visual art. Each and every time…For me, this medium is a sanctuary, a “place of refuge and protection.” On the pages of my journal, I can immerse myself in myself and then bring it forth externally.

We are all artists in our own unique way. If you could expand your view of what art encapsulates, could you see yourself as an artist? If so:

-Where is your sanctuary?

-What art form calls to you?

-How do you express yourself?